Once A Queen In Narnia
by MyraValhallah
Summary: Alternate ending to Prince Caspian. What if Lucy never left Narnia with the others? started out as a oneshot but is growing.   Please R&R- No flames please
1. Prologue

_**Once a king or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen**_

"Where's Lucy?" Edmund exclaimed, his gaze resting on the empty space on the bench beside Susan.

"Wasn't she right behind us when Aslan opened the door?"

Peter and Susan looked at one another; Susan was white as a sheet.

"Do you suppose she got lost on the way back?"

Peter smiled sadly, shaking his head. "We'll never know Su, but if I were to hazard a guess I'd say that Aslan has another task for her."

Susan's eyes filled with tears. "Do you really think so?"

Lucy's faith in Aslan was the strongest out of all of them; after all she'd been the only one of them to see Aslan when he appeared to them, little before they met Caspian.

"Don't cry Su" Edmund hugged his sister. "I'm sure she's safe where ever she is"

Lucy Pevensie sat in the middle of the Narnian field still dressed in her tunic, tights, and chain mail; in a state which could only be described as shock. She didn't understand. Hadn't Aslan told them that it was time to return to England?

"You are troubled, Daughter?" The Great Lion himself had come to sit beside her.

"Oh Aslan, why am I here?" she asked, burying her face in his thick golden mane. "It isn't that I'm not happy to be here it's just..."

"Lucy" Her name in Aslan's voice calmed her instantly. "You were not meant to return with the others. I have a task for you here"

"What Aslan?" She stared at him. "What would you have me do?"

"You must rebuild Narnia; you never lost your faith in me. Prince Caspian needs that faith if he is to become King."

Lucy looked up at Caspian who was standing with the other Narnians, simply watching the Queen of Old and the Great Lion interact. He looked like he had in her dream; that dream seemed so long ago now.

"Will I ever see Peter, Ed and Su again?" she asked him

"That is a story for another time, Daughter" Aslan told her as they rose together and walked back towards Caspian's army. "Come now, Cair Paravell awaits its Queen's return."

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_**Just a one shot but I'm considering expanding it... what do you guys think?**_


	2. The Journey To Cair Paravel

**_Well, you said you wanted to read more of this fic so here's Chapter one._**

**_Thank you for your reviews guys- and special thanks to my Beta-Reader: WriterOfRhymes_**

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**I: The Journey to Cair Paravel**

The journey back to Cair was smooth even though it was obviously going to take several days. Lucy, who was mounted on a Centaur like Caspian, spent the first day's travel admiring the land which was both familiar and alien to her. They stopped at sunset- fires were lit and meals were prepared. Chiron, Lucy's mount, lifted her down; but, as her feet touched the grass, her legs (which were no longer used to long stints on horseback) buckled beneath her. Chiron caught her gently by the arms and helped her hobble over to a log by one of the campfires.

"Do not worry, Queen Lucy," Chiron said kindly. "I know that you are a true horsewoman, and before the year is out, you shall have found your seat again."

"Thank you, Chiron." Lucy smiled up at him. "Thank you for carrying me."

"My pleasure, your Majesty," he replied, before walking over to a group of his kinsmen.

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"I expect this must be hard for you."

The quiet voice of Caspian made her start. She had been thinking about the life she had led as a Queen, recalling everything from battles to the Coronation of Cor and Aravis as king and queen of Archenland- one of the last visits she and her siblings made before returning to England.

"By the Lion!" she exclaimed. "You startled me, Caspian!"

By this time, night had fallen, and Caspian had generously brought her some of the meat which had been roasted during her reverie. He sat beside her and began to pick at his own roast.

"I'm sorry, Queen Lucy," the boy told her contritely. "But you looked sad- it must be hard for you to be here when your brothers and sister are gone."

"Caspian," she smiled at him. "You are as much a King as I am a Queen; just call me Lucy."

Caspian returned her smile. "Alright… Lucy."

After they finished eating, the assembled Narnians fell to storytelling- each person and animal took turns to tell a story, sing a song, or recite a poem. When it was Lucy's turn, the entire party watched her with bated breath- it was clear to the young queen that they desired to hear a tale of the Golden Age from a person who was actually there.

She decided on the story of how she and her siblings came to arrive in  
Narnia that first time, taking time to describe things from her world in a way that the Narnians would understand.

"We sat in the four thrones at Cair Paravel," she concluded with a wistful smile. "Aslan himself set the crowns upon our heads."

When she finished her tale the others burst into rapturous applause.

"You're a born storyteller, Queen Lucy," someone told her, pressing a kiss to her hand.

"That was different from the way Doctor Cornelius told it," Caspian informed. "My tutor- the way he told it sounded like something you'd read in a history book."

Lucy chuckled. "Well, it is rather fresh in my mind, considering for me the whole Golden Age was only one year ago."

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The next morning Lucy was up with the sun, a habit which had never left her since her days at Cair. She found that she was one of the last to rise, and when she emerged from the tent they had allotted her, an otter came padding up to her with a bowl of porridge.

"I was just coming to wake you, my Queen," he told Lucy. "We're leaving soon, if we should hope to reach the castle by high noon."

"Oh," Lucy nodded, accepting the porridge with a grateful smile. "Thank you for telling me, Mr Otter. Is King Caspian awake?"

"My brother went to wake him, your Majesty," the otter nodded.

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Breakfast was a fairly hurried affair. There was none of the talk that there had been the night before, though this was probably because of the unspoken agreement to get to Cair Paravel as quickly as possible. Two different Centaurs volunteered to carry the remaining royal children the rest of the way to Cair.

Despite the stiffness from the previous day's ride, Lucy found the morning's ride far easier. The Centaur carrying her, this time a handsome black-coated colt, commented that she kept her seat well.

Caspian had it easier than the Queen, having spent his childhood learning to ride, while it had been years (in Narnian terms) since Lucy had been on horseback.

Cair Paravel was first sighted not long before noon.

"That's Cair Paravel?" Caspian asked, his eyes wide with childish wonder.

"Yes." Lucy nodded wistfully. "When we first arrived in Narnia after you sounded Susan's horn, we almost didn't recognize the place. We only recognized it when we found the Treasure Chamber. It'll be good to see the place restored to its former glory."

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**_AN: I was asked whether there would be Lucy/Caspian romance..._**

**_My answer is that yes there will be Lucy and Caspian romance- however, as I see Lucy as being around nine and Caspian about twelve in the book, the romance will kick in later on when they are older._**

**_Thank you guys for reading- please let me know what you think and the next chapter will be added as soon as possible_**

**_M.V  
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	3. Damaged By Time

**_Thank you guys for your reviews, favourites and alerts. You're all very kind._**

**_Special thanks to My Beta-Reader WriterOfRhymes._**

**_And now without further ado...

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**II: Damaged By Time  
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"It didn't look so bad when we left," Lucy murmured, almost mournfully, as she stood looking at the castle that had been, and was to be, her home.

She had retreated a short distance to survey the outside of the castle after the convoy had finally stopped. She was saddened to see the condition of what was, once upon a time, a beautiful building which had been home to many beasts and men during the Golden Age. In her mind's eye she saw the place as it had been, and a smile crossed her lips as it struck her that part of Aslan's plan for her lay before her eyes at this moment.

She was to help in the restoration of Cair Paravel.

"Your Majesty?" An adolescent Faun came trotting up. "His Majesty sent me to see if you were well."

"I'm fine." She smiled, knowing it was true. "I needed a little space to think things over but I am fine now. Thank you, …" she paused, waiting for his name.

"T-Tumnus." The Faun bowed sheepishly.

Lucy's eyes widened. There was a resemblance between this young Faun and her first friend in this world. "Are you…?"

"I was named in honour of my ancestor," he nodded. "I'm a direct descendant of his son Lucien."

Lucien was the eldest of Mr Tumnus' two sons and was named, of course, in her honour.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tumnus," she smiled. "Your namesake was a good friend to me."

Young Tumnus smiled back and offered his arm with an awkward blush. "M-may I escort you back to the castle, your Majesty?"

"Thank you," Lucy accepted the arm, and girl-queen and Faun returned to the castle.

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"Lucy!" Caspian grinned when he saw her; the boy king was standing with Reepicheep and Pattertwig at the entrance to the castle. "We were just about to head inside to see if anything might be salvaged for  
rebuilding. Would you like to join us?"

"Of course," she nodded, slipping her arm out of Tumnus' and moving closer to Caspian. "Thank you, Tumnus."

"My Queen." The young Faun nodded to her before trotting away

"I was thinking…" she began as they entered what used to be the great foyer of the castle.

"Dangerous," Caspian teased, poking his tongue out at his new friend and co-ruler, thus earning himself a light thump on the arm. "But go on."

She told him about her epiphany. "I mean, I'm the only one here who knows what Cair looked like before it fell to ruin."

"Queen Lucy might be onto something there, Caspian," said the small man whom Lucy hadn't noticed until he spoke. "It might help old Narnia to resurface faster if their King and Queen lived in a classic Cair  
Paravel."

"Thank you, Doctor Cornelius," Caspian nodded to the small man, before he turned to Lucy. "My old Tutor, you know."

"You mentioned him last night at dinner," Lucy replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor. I believe you met my brothers Peter and Edmund?"

"The pleasure is all mine, my queen." Cornelius bowed over her hand.

Then, introductions over and done with, the small group set off to explore the ruin.

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Sad to say, very little of the castle was salvageable due to centuries of weather damage. Lucy was placated by the fact that Archenland, in recent years, had produced some wonderfully talented architects, who would, according to Cornelius, be able to draw up plans for the castle  
to Lucy's specifications in a trice.

"Thank you, Doctor Cornelius," Lucy grinned at the half-dwarf. "As soon as it's possible we need to send for an architect. I would like to see Cair restored."

Caspian agreed. "Is it possible to have some of the lower rooms restored before summer ends?"

"I suppose it depends on how quickly the plans are completed," Lucy noted. "But, until then, there is room for us all to stay dry. There's plenty of space in the grand ballroom, and the treasure chamber is  
secure. We slept in there after our return from England."

"Only our closest should sleep in there with us," Caspian nodded. "But what of Wimbleweather? It wouldn't be fair to make him camp out while we sleep in the castle."

Lucy pondered this, but it was Doctor Cornelius who supplied the answer. "Why not ask him where he would prefer to sleep? Giants are hard wearing people, used to the mountain conditions."

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As it was, they did not need to worry about the giant's lodgings. He had been planning his departure, not wishing to cause more of a nuisance than he already had. After a hearty meal a runner was  
selected to take the request for an architect to Archenland. By the time this business was taken care of, it was late afternoon; so it was decided that the runner should head off at first light (to this the  
runner had no real objections).

Lucy, Caspian, Doctor Cornelius, the mice, Squirrels, Trumpkin and Trufflehunter were the only ones who did not bed down in the Ballroom. There was enough room, despite the squash, for the whole  
company to sleep in the Ballroom.

With the new day the restoration of the old ways would begin in earnest.

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_**AN: It has been pointed out to me that in the book Lucy and Cornelius may have met; however as it has been a while since I have even seen my copy of the book- any major deviation in this manner is accidental.**_

_**Until next time**_

_**Myra**_


	4. Shadows Of The Past

**_I'm not dead! :)_**

**_Let me start with an apology for how long it's been since my last post- 9 months- wow_**

**_Thank you to everybody who has read, reviewed, favourited and added this story to alerts :)_**

**_And now without further waffle on my part I present..._**

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_**III: Shadows of the Past**_

The months that followed Queen Lucy the Valiant's return to Narnia were busy for both of the land's young monarchs. Caspian and a small contingent of the army went to Miraz' castle to tidy up the remains of the Telmarine occupancy; Lucy, Reepicheep, Doctor Cornelius, and young Tumnus worked with an Archenlander architect to redesign Cair Paravel so that it was both classical and modern. The talented young man - whose name was Peter - had also taken it upon himself to design a bridge between Cair's island and Mainland Narnia which could be easily mistaken as a natural part of the land.

"It is simply my homage to the Golden Age of Narnia, Your Majesty," the young man had told the girl Queen when she thanked him after seeing the designs for the first time. "When I heard that you and your kin had reigned from the Cair peninsula, I thought it fitting that you and his Majesty should reign in that way again."

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When they first arrived outside of Miraz' castle, Caspian looked up at his childhood home in contempt- to think he had once been happy in the place. He had been raised with the fairy tales of the Golden Age - the boy kings and girl queens (the youngest of whom was to reclaim her crown as soon as the throne room was complete again)- and had begun to consider them myths before his cousin Miraz was born. Thirteen was, as his uncle had told him on his last birthday, far too old to have one's head filled with such whimsical nonsense.

"Sire?" one of the soldiers asked, concerned by his young king's lack of movement for the past ten minutes. They had become used to their queen being lost in the past, but their king was seen as more level, given that he had not returned to the land after becoming lost to legend.

"I'm fine," Caspian assured him. "This castle holds as many memories for me as Cair does for the Queen, though not all of them pleasant. I'll be fine as soon as we conclude our business here once and for all.

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The inventory of Miraz' castle took two weeks. They were the longest weeks of Caspian's short life to date. He found himself wishing that Lucy was there; he thought she would understand what he was feeling as he sorted through everything in the castle with the small group.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty- this was not a phrase that Caspian had heard of, but, if he had, would have agreed. Thinking back on the childhood he had considered happy, he could see his uncle's distaste for him. There had been a certain coldness in Miraz' eyes every time he looked at him.

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Caspian was more than relieved when it was at last time to return to Lucy at Cair Paravel. The small contingent mounted their horses and set off back down the river.

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**_ Short I know- but I promise that subsequent chapters will be longer._**

**_Please R&R :)_**


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